Claire at 11 months

Claire turned 11 months old last Thursday! So close to the BIG 1! I always say this, but I just can't believe it. She is such a little girl now, rather than a baby.

Claire at 11 months:

• Has two favorite books: The Secret Life of Fairies and Toes are to Tickle. She has a gazillion other books and if I start reading one of them while we're in her rocking chair, she leans over, looks at her basket of books and tries to grab a different one. She really likes books that have flaps that she can flip, which her first favorite book has. Toes are to Tickle doesn't have any flaps so I'm not sure where that fascination came from!
• Loves to stand at the floor to ceiling window next to the front door and look outside. It's so sweet. She'll watch kids play in the street or just look outside at the trees, bushes, and whatever else is out there. She also stands in the living room next to the toy ottoman and stare outside. Now that it's getting nicer, she can play outside again and she LOVES it!
• Is apprehensive of people she doesn't know, or doesn't know very well. Her little lip pouts and then her full on sad cry bursts through.
• Eats better! She still has her favorites (yogurt, cheese, bananas) but is eating more variety. She discovered she loves macaroni with cheese melted on it, apricots, a blend of tomatoes, potatoes and carrots, and Cheerios. She had boycotted the bottle for awhile but thankfully is back to drinking it.
• Nurses twice a day- morning and night. I stopped pumping at work about 2-3 weeks ago and man, is it freeing! I really, really did not like pumping, despite the awesome set-up at Target, and I am so happy to be done! I was on a business trip last week so I pumped twice a day there, but in general, I'm done! I am proud that I made it 10+ months pumping and that I'm still nursing twice a day at 11 months. It's been a wonderful gift for Claire.
• Isn't walking on her own but pushes her little stroller around the house. She doesn't have great balance but can stand on her own for a few seconds.
• Sleeps like a champ. Lately she's been sleeping from about 7:00-7:30PM until 8:00AM (with eating once around 5:30AM). She usually takes 3 naps a day, but occasionally only takes two. Or one, like yesterday, when Mommy was sick on the couch all day and Daddy had Claire-duty and only got one nap in because they spent 4 hours at the Burnsville Mall. :) We put her down awake and she falls asleep all on her own!! It's so amazing. I have read a lot about sleeping struggles and so many babies/toddlers stuggle falling asleep on their own. I'm so thankful that Claire began this without any major sleep training. It makes ALL the difference in the world! (to expectant parents reading this- do everything you can to encourage and establish good sleeping habits! We are on a fairly routine schedule. We know her typical nap times and try our best to be home from them. It means less flexibility on the weekends but it has been so worth it for us. She's awake from like 11AM-1PM or so we can get lunch or run errands during those times.)
• Is so happy! She's always smiling and laughing. She LOVES to smile at her daddy.
• Started the double wave. She double waves at Sydney all the time. The cutest is when she puts her arms in the air like "so big" and double waves.
• Opens and closes one hand to signal two different things, I believe. I think it means both "more" and "I like".
• Weighed 15 lbs 2 oz at 10 months so my best guess is that she's around 15 lbs 8 oz or so. We'll find out at her 1 year appt. She's wearing different sizes based on the brand. Carters is 9 months, Gap and Old Navy at 6-12 months.

Well we're babysitting her friend Kiera today so we're going to run and get some lunch! Hope you're having a blessed weekend!

Money tree

I agree that we need a change in healthcare. But I'm not an overall fan of the healthcare bill. I actually dislike portions of it quite a bit. Like using federal funding for abortions (yes, yes, I know that Obama signed that Executive Order to ban federally funding abortions but it doesn't mean anything. If it did, it would have been put into the actual bill. Watch.) when the government should be protecting the innocent lives (you may remember that I believe that life begins at conception. I saw my 11 month old's tiny heart beating when I was 6 weeks 2 days pregnant). I also don't agree that adults should be treated as children until they are 26 years old. And I don't believe everyone should be required to own health insurance- it really seems like government is becoming huge with that one. And last but not least, I don't believe the government should be spending trillions of dollars.

Forget about a trillion. How much is a billion? Can you grasp it?

A billion seconds ago it was 1979.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was almost alive. It was 109 AD.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the stone age.

A billion days ago no one walked on earth on two feet.

A billion dollars ago was only 4 hours and 10 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it (pre-healthcare bill).

Phew..

Thoughts on Religion, Part 2

Last Friday I was statusing with one of my direct reports and she was telling me about her 30th birthday party that night. She said (this is almost a direct quote):

"We were going to have fish sticks at the party since it's on a Friday. But then my dad realized that today is Saint Joseph's day and Saint Joseph is his Patron Saint. If your Patron Saint day falls on a Friday during Lent, you can eat meat and everyone around you can eat meat too. So since he will be at my party, we can all eat meat. So we're having T-Bones!!!!!"

????????????????????

As you can imagine, I had to bite my tongue!

Thoughts from the mind of Josh

This is an oldie but I love it so I'm going to post it anyways. He said this last July 3rd (our 5th wedding anniversary) as we walked to our car in the parking lot after having lunch with each other and Claire at Old Chicago.

He was holding Claire and he said, "I really love owning a baby".

Thoughts from the mind of Josh

"At least I have you, Claire, and American Idol in my life....."

Her first word

I can’t help but smile today.

I have been trying to teach Claire how to say “mama” for quite some time. She says “mamamamamama” all the time but not in reference to me—she’s just babbling. She says, “bababababa” a lot too. This morning she woke up at 5:45 (as usual) and when I changed her diaper I found she was soaked with pee. So I had to remove her pajamas, totally wipe her down, and put a new diaper in pajamas on. At this point she was totally awake and not interested in sleeping again (I tried putting her down after feeding her but she just cried). So I got her up and brought her into the bathroom with me while I got ready. Josh was already on his way to work so I had to give her toys in the bathroom to occupy her while I quickly showered. During my shower she sat on the rug in front of the shower and wailed the whole time. She also didn’t want me to put her down while I put my makeup on so I tried putting her back to sleep at 6:30. She was rubbing her eyes and it was clear she was still quite tired. She cried while I blow dried my hair but I was hoping she’d settle herself down. A few minutes later I went back into her room because I didn’t think she’d get herself to sleep. She was standing in her crib, in the corner, near the door. As soon as I stepped into her room, she looked at me, stopped crying, lifted her arms in the air for me to pick her up, and said, “mama!”.

Now it was MY turn to cry! It so touched my heart and is a moment I’ll never forget! Seeing how smart she is, she’ll probably start using this to her advantage! How do I not go get her when she calls out for me with “mama”!

Thoughts on Religion

I love Easter. I love everything about it. I would love it even a bit more if Target gave us Good Friday or the Monday after off. Even so, I think the 45 minutes that I am in church service at Hosanna on Easter is my favorite 45 minutes of the ENTIRE year. Except for 2009, maybe. I would say 5:17PM to 6:02PM on April 25th was probably my favorite 45 minutes in 2009, but generally speaking, my favorite moments of the year is the Easter church service.

With that said, at no other time of the year am I more certain that I am not religious than during the Lent season.

I am a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ. He is my heart’s desire and the love of my life. But I strongly feel that I am not religious.

Religion is man-made. When Jesus was alive, he wasn’t religious. He was the “I AM”. The Alpha and the Omega. The human kind has created the religions we know today and the customs, requirements, and practices associated with them.
In high school I attended a non-denominational church. Before Josh and I got married, he converted from Catholicism after much prayer and consideration. Going from a traditional Catholic church to a more contemporary Lutheran church was an easier adjustment than going to a non-denominational church, so that is what we did.

The church we adore now is Lutheran but is considering leaving the ELCA because of a recent decision made by the organization. When people ask me what religion I am, I answer “Lutheran” but I want (and will begin) to say, “I’m a Christian” or “I’m a follower of Jesus”.

I don’t know why it bothers me so much, but I just have a hard time with following a religious practice just because the religion suggests or requires it. Take, for example, not eating meat on Fridays during Lent. If not eating meat on Fridays is done because it is a sacrifice, strengthens their relationship with Jesus and allows the person to identify even in the tiniest amount with the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made, then I think that’s great. But if it doesn’t mean anything spiritually to the person, then I just don’t get it! I also don’t understand why I was told publicly at a Catholic church once that I was not welcome to take communion because I believed that the bread and wine symbolized Jesus and was not literally his flesh and blood. I want to go to church every Sunday. I enjoy worshipping in this environment (although I believe worship can happen anytime and anywhere), learning through the biblically-based teaching, and being amongst followers. But I don’t believe that attending or not attending church every Sunday has a bearing on my salvation. These are just my beliefs! I am not saying they are the right beliefs! I know some people that read my blog have different beliefs and I am not saying that you are wrong. This is just what I believe.

I understand the value and importance of traditions. I enjoy celebrating the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day, even though he may not have actually been born on December 25th. But I am not religious. And I need to simmer down sometimes and not get worked up over religious practices that I don’t understand.

An event happened recently that caused these frustrations and feelings to surface.

This is kind of an abrupt end but I am finishing my lunch break so I must get back to work! Just wanted to process these thoughts!

Have a great day. I’m looking forward to date night tonight with Josh- even though it’s just dinner at Burnsville center (we’re going to try Al Ezteca (sp?)) and a class at National Camera Exchange!

10 Months

Claire is 10 months old! She turned 10 months a week ago so I'm a little late in writing this post. I can't believe how close she is to ONE year old! I am exciting thinking about her birthday party! Part of me is sad that she's growing up so quickly but another part of me is so excited for her to reach new milestones- like walking, saying "mama" in reference to me, playing in the grass outside.



Last week was quite the week. On Tuesday morning I called the on-call RN at her Pediatrician office and asked if I should bring her in because she hadn't had a wet diaper in 48 hours and had refused food and drinks for about 3 days. The nurse said, "Yes, but take her to the hospital". Fortunately she's doing better now, except for the fact that she's had diarrhea for the past 16 days straight.... But on to less smelly subjects....



Claire at 10 months:

• Weighs 15 lbs 2 oz. At 9 months she weighed just an ounce less so she must have lost weight when she wouldn't eat or drink. She is perfect as she is but it would hurt for her to pack a pound or two on!
• Prefers to eat bananas, yogurt and cheese slices. She's becoming pickier by the day- ugh! We still try new things and continue trying foods she hasn't liked because I read it can take 9-11 times of trying something before a baby starts to like it. When I shove something other than the aforementioned foods in her mouth, she looks at my with disgust and spits it out. Today I tried feeding her mashed up carrots, potatoes, cheese and brocolli. She usually likes the first three of those foods independently so I thought she might eat it when they are cooked together. Nope! She actually started pouting and then broke into a full-out sob like I was being the meanest mom in the world to her!
• Smacks her lips and copies you when you do it- it's so cute!
• Sleeps through the night from about 7:30PM until 7:00AM. I do wake her up to eat in the morning before work. On the weekends she gets up at the same time (5:30ish) to get and then goes back to sleep for awhile. She naps two-three times per day. The morning nap is usually the best. This morning it was 1 hr 45 min long!
• Babbles more and more. The word she says most right now is "bababababab". She also says "mamamamama" but I don't think it's in reference to me quite yet- soon, I hope!
• Loves to empty everything and anything. This includes kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, diaper bag, carseat, mom's purse, toy chest, etc. It's cute to watch.
• Wears mostly size 9 clothing, depending on the brand. We're getting great use out of her clothes! We are so, so blessed to have a ton of hand me downs from my friend Kathy. She has two daughters that are ages 4 and almost 3 and she gave me 4 huge tubs full of clothes last summer! I am so grateful. Almost everyday Claire is wearing something from the Coutts girls!
• Pushes your hand or arm away if you're doing something she doesn't want you to do. If she's trying to get into Sydney's dog dish and you grab her hip to stop her, she reaches down and shoves your hand off of her. She does it ALL the time! She knows what she wants! That's my girl. :)
• Is pretty social. She gets weary of strangers and even of people she knows well but for the most part, she's good with people, especially considering her age. Last Friday I was at my friend Rachael's house and she interacted with Rachael really well, even though she has only seen her a handful of times.
• Doesn't enjoy getting her diaper changed or getting dressed. It's a struggle almost every time- especially getting dressed. This is normal for her age. Or as her Peditrician would say, "normal, normal, normal!"
• Has definite preferences, which is so fun to see unfold. I got her a little bucket of blocks that are different shapes and fit into holes on the top of the bucket. You know what I'm talking about, right? I think almost everyone had a variation of this toy. There are blue circles, red triangles, orange stars, green squares, and purple plus signs. Her favorite is by far the blue circles. When they're all around her, she always picks up the blue circles.
• Gives kisses, albeit sparingly! We all cherish the kisses she does hand out to us!
• Loves when you chase her, especially if she's climbing the stairs. She gets all excited and tries to go as fast as she can, so she gets a little clumsy and starts giggling up a storm. It just warms my heart thinking about it!

Well there's the update for little Miss 10 month old Claire. On one hand it feels like this year has gone by ridiculously fast and on the other hand, it's hard to remember the time before our precious daughter was in our life. How can something so small be your entire world?